In honor of the Mahler year, EuroArts presents this 4-disc Blu-ray boxed set of symphonies nos. 1-7 with the Lucerne Festival Orchestral and Claudio Abbado. An aficionado must-have!

ClassicalCDReview.comNow we have three new issues two of which are Blu Ray reissue (Claudio Abbado and Pierre Boulez). Abbado's with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra was recorded in 2003, first reviewed on this site by the late R.D. when issued on CD. The same recording was issued on DVD covered on this site in 200. Now the same performance is released yet again, but this time remastered for Blu Ray, and it has never sounded better. This same Blu Ray issue is included in the 4 disk Blu Ray set listed above where it is joined by Abbado's previously released recordings of symphonies 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7, and surely this is the set to get even if you might already have several of the others. This is an incredible bargain - 4 Blu Ray disks at a bargain price. The set also includes two other works originally issued coupled with the symphonies, Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3 with Yuja Wang, and Mahler's Rückert-Lieder with Magdalena Kozena. ... the 4-disk set which surely is the better purchase.

MusicWeb InternationalTwo of the individual releases from this budget boxset - symphonies 1 & 3 - were my first dip into the world of Blu-ray. The picture quality is quite extraordinary, to the point where you can almost make out the maker's name engraved into the French horns. However, sharpness of picture would count for nothing if these weren't absolutely outstanding performances.

MusicWeb InternationalThis is a superb box for those who have resisted the separate issues. Unmissable!

Blu-ray.comAbout the only qualms any Mahler fan should have with this set is wondering where the Eighth, Ninth and unfinished Tenth are. Aside from that perhaps irrelevant query, this is a Mahler Cycle for the high definition era, and one which, especially with the "corrected" audio on the Second, makes the most of Mahler's unique and challenging sound world. Abbado and the Lucerne Festival Orchestra have provided classical music lovers with one of the touchstones of this still developing Blu-ray era, and this release is most definitely Very highly recommended.